VR Pong

VR Pong was developed for Engineering Week 2003 at the University of Missouri – Columbia . Every year, about one thousand students of all ages (K-12) come to look at exhibits at the Engineering department during E-Week.

A stylish shot of my arm playing

We had just set up the Computer-Human Interaction Laboratory and needed to put some exhibits together that could be enjoyed by most students, so I decided to do something with some Polhemus position sensors. It ended up being a big hit, and we had problems keeping the students moving through because everyone wanted a chance to play.

VR Pong is designed to be played by two people at once, one person with their right hand, and another with their left hand. Each player looks at their own computer monitor and sees a view from one end of a rectangular corridor. The position of their hand determines where the paddle on the screen is positioned, and each player attempts to score against the other by knocking the ball past their paddle. The game doesn’t use the touch sensors embedded in the gloves, they were used because it was convenient.